The Bears cruised to an 11-0 win over the Hillsdale Knights, capping off a league sweep and celebrating a dominant senior night performance on Friday night.
Before the game, M-A honored eight seniors and their families in a heartfelt ceremony.
Senior pitcher Jack Molise got the start for the Bears and immediately set the tone, retiring the side to end the top of the first.
The Bears got the bats going early with sophomore outfielder Merrick Lee leading the charge with a swift double. Junior second baseman Ryder Kelly then followed suit with a single of his own. Junior shortstop Caden Lewis added by meticulously working the count and drawing a walk to load the bases.
With all ducks on the pond, Molise stepped up to the plate and crushed a grand slam to left-center to put M-A up 4-0.
“He was only throwing the fastball for a strike so I felt like I knew what was coming, I was just trying to swing as hard as I could,” Molise said.
The Bears weren’t done. A double from senior outfielder Ronan Cutright and an RBI single by junior third baseman Masa Shudo brought home three more runs, blowing the game open in the first inning.
Molise stayed sharp on the mound, tossing another clean inning in the second.While the Bears were quiet in the second, the Knights continued to struggle at the plate, unable to crack Molise’s command as he spun a third consecutive scoreless inning.
M-A found more offensive rhythm in the bottom of the fourth. Senior first baseman Jimmy Zaharias roped a double down the third base line, advanced on a groundout, and came home on a sacrifice fly from senior shortstop William Roberts. The Bears managed to tack on one more run before the end of the inning, extending their lead to 9-0.
Molise kept rolling in the fifth, recording his third strikeout of the night before Kelly turned a smooth double play to close out the inning.
Despite numerous hits in the bottom of the fifth, sloppy base running prevented M-A from adding onto their lead.Molise returned for his final inning of work in the sixth, collecting his fifth strikeout and wrapping up a lights-out six shutout inning performance.
Despite the hefty lead, the Bears kept their foot on the gas by adding two more runs in the sixth.
With Molise’s day done, senior pitcher Anthony Kabrich came in to close and quickly shut the door, recording three straight outs to seal an 11-0 Bears win.
“I will forever be grateful for this program and what it’s done for me,” Cutright said.
M-A will return to the field for the opening round of the Division II CCS playoffs, where they will host the Pioneer Mustangs on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Great piece and baseball insight by Oliver. Great photography as well. Look forward to reading more. Only a freshman!